The present invention relates to gun racks. More particularly, the invention relates to a gun rack specifically adapted for repeated secure placement in, and total removal from, a vehicle without incurring damage to the vehicle during placement, use or removal.
Gun racks have been used in automobiles for nearly as long as automobiles have been on the roads. Through the years, however, many improvements have been made to the early gun racks to increase both the safety and security provided. For example, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,364,499 issued Dec. 21, 1982 to McCue, many automobile gun racks are provided with lock and key type latching mechanisms. Likewise, much effort has been made to prevent damage to the gun being transported. As shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,497,077 issued Feb. 24, 1970 to Sjostrand, one such improvement comprises surfacing the gun rack with a resilient coating. Unfortunately, though, little real progress has been made toward the development of an automobile gun rack that provides safety, security and protection against gun damage as well as protection against devaluation of the user""s vehicle.
Most of the known automobile gun racks require modification of the vehicle in order to provide a safe and secure means for supporting a gun. For example, McCue teaches the use of bolts to secure a gun rack to the floorboard of the host vehicle. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,560,134 issued Dec. 24, 1985 to Klein teaches the use of fasteners for mounting a gun rack to the floor or tunnel sheet metal of an automobile passenger compartment; U.S. Pat. No. 4,579,263 issued Apr. 1, 1986 to Ehmke et al. teaches the use of bolts to secure a gun rack to the floor of a vehicle; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,799,850 issued Sep. 1, 1998 to Ryder teaches the use of screws to mount a gun rack to a vehicle floor. In addition to the inherent damage to the vehicle, an additional consequence of these long established and now very standard mounting techniques is that the available gun racks tend to very narrowly adapted for installation in a particular place on a particular vehicle type.
With these shortcomings of the prior art clearly in mind, it is the primary object of the present invention to improve over the prior art in providing a gun rack adapted for use in a vehicle with no resultant damage to the vehicle, but without sacrifice of the many safety and security features presently known. It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a gun rack that is also readily adaptable for use in a number of configurations in a wide variety of vehicle types. Finally, it is an object of the present invention to provide such a gun rack that is inexpensive and relatively simple to manufacture and, thus, may be enjoyed by most automobile owning gun enthusiasts.
In accordance with the foregoing objects, the present inventionxe2x80x94a gun rack for nondestructive use in any of a variety of vehicle modelsxe2x80x94generally comprises two substantially L-shaped vehicle engagement members, each having a leg portion and a foot portion, and a cross bar disposed between the upper end of the leg portions. The cross bar, or member, is dependently supported by the leg portions and comprises at least one trough adapted to support the stock portion of a gun.
Each leg portion or, preferably, each entire L-shaped member is provided with a depressible outer surface adapted to firmly engage a vehicle console without damage. Such a surface may comprise a foam, soft plastic or other substantial equivalent. Similarly, each trough, generally comprising a substantially concave upper portion and a substantially convex lower portion, is provided with a like depressible surface for protection of the gun""s stock.
In at least one embodiment of the present invention, each leg portion of the L-shaped members is adapted to flexibly engage an opposite side portion of a vehicle center console. In this embodiment, the members may comprise a spring steel construction. In another embodiment, however, which may include some or all of the features of the first embodiment, the cross member is adjustable in length to facilitate use with a wider variety of console styles. According to this embodiment, adjustment of the length of the cross member effects the relative spacing of the two leg portions. In one implementation, the adjustable cross member comprises a turnbuckle, which may have a locking device adapted to selectively fix the length of the cross member and, thus, the width of the gun rack.
A barrel stabilizer generally comprising a flexible base member having a cup disposed thereon is preferably provided for additional security of the gun as well as protection of the vehicle""s carpet. In the preferred embodiment, the stabilizer comprises a flexible polymeric material for stable frictional engagement with the vehicle""s floorboard. In addition, the bottom portion of the stabilizer may be provided with hook-type fasteners for releasable engagement with the vehicle""s carpet.
In an alternate embodiment, each L-shaped engagement member is adapted to fold upon itself such that each foot portion may be positioned substantially parallel to its corresponding leg portion. In at least one implementation of this feature, a pair of hinges is disposed one each between the leg portion and the foot portion of each member. Additionally, a second pair of hinges may be interposed one each in a knee region of the leg portion of each engagement member. This second pair, which defines an upper leg portion and a lower leg portion in each leg portion, enables articulation of the cross bar and upper leg portions with respect to each corresponding lower leg portion. In order to secure this embodiment into a desired fixed configuration, each hinge preferably comprises a position-locking device.
Finally, many other features, objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the relevant arts, especially in light of the foregoing discussions and the following drawings, exemplary detailed description and appended claims.